-Slams ₦20M Fine On Ngoforo 

…Says Plaintiff A Busybody, Suit A Waste Of Court Time

The Federal High Court sitting in Owerri has dismissed a suit seeking to deregister the Action Peoples Party (APP), describing the plaintiff, Mazi Ngororo Franklin Chinazo, a known front of the Imo state Government, as a busybody who wasted the court’s time.

In the landmark judgment delivered by Hon. Justice I.N. Oweibo in Suit No. FHC/OW/CS/39/2026, the court resolved all five questions for determination against the plaintiff and refused all the reliefs sought.

The plaintiff had dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Attorney General of the Federation, and the Action Peoples Party to court, asking among other things, for an order to deregister the APP.

Justice Oweibo held that the plaintiff failed to prove that the 3rd defendant (APP) was ever deregistered by INEC during the 2020 deregistration exercise.

The court noted that the plaintiff conducted extensive searches but could not produce any evidence that APP was lawfully deregistered. Instead, evidence before the court showed that APP had obtained an enrolled order from the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Suit No. FCT/HC/BW/CV/176/2020 restraining INEC from deregistering it. That order, the court found, remained subsisting.

“The 3rd Defendant was at no time deregistered. As a political party that is registered and recognized by INEC, its participation in electoral activities was in line with the law,” the judgment read in part.

The court further held that INEC was under no obligation to remove from its register a political party that had not been lawfully deregistered.

Justice Oweibo was scathing in his assessment of the plaintiff’s case, stating: “I am of the opinion that this is a suit that should never have been filed. The Plaintiff was fully aware… that the 3rd Defendant was not deregistered. He merely wasted the time of the Court and the Defendants.”

Consequently, the court awarded N10,000,000 (Ten Million Naira) against the plaintiff in favor of INEC (1st defendant) and another N10,000,000 (Ten Million Naira) against the plaintiff in favor of APP (3rd defendant), totaling ₦20 million.

The ruling effectively affirms that the Action Peoples Party remains a fully registered political party, unencumbered by any deregistration order, and eligible to participate in elections.

Legal observers say the judgment sends a strong warning against the use of frivolous litigations to harass political parties through the backdoor.

Counsel for the plaintiff was I.M.O. George, Esq.; Babayemi O. Olaniyan, Esq. appeared for INEC; Chioma R. Dike, Esq. (Mrs.) appeared for the Attorney General of the Federation; while Dr. C.A. Nnawuchi, SAN (with C.C. Nnawuchi, Esq.) appeared for the APP.